







State of Maine 


AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE USE OF 
UNIFORM BALLOT BOXES AND FOR 
THE PRESERVATION OF BALLOTS 
CAST AT ELECTIONS 

Approved March 23, 1912. 



PREPARED BY THE 
SECRETARY OF STATE 





\q»*- 


The copies of this pamphlet which are furnished to city, tozmi 
and other officers are for their official use, and should be care¬ 
fully preserved by them and transmitted to their successors in 
office so long as the law contained in the pamphlet remains in 
force. 


0. SF 3, 

NOV 13 !914 


STATE OF MAINE 


IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD ONE THOUSAND NINE 
HUNDRED AND TWELVE 

AN ACT to provide for the use of Uniform Ballot Boxes 
and for the Preservation of Ballots cast at elections. 

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine, as follows: 

Section i. Ballot boxes used for the reception of official 
ballots shall be of uniform design ; 'they shall be provided for 
each polling place by the Secretary of State at the expense of 
the State, and shall be known as State Ballot Boxes; each box 
shall be equipped with a suitable lock and key: in the top of each 
box there shall be an opening through which each ballot shall be 
put into the box; such opening shall be large enough and not 
larger than may be necessary to allow a single folded ballot to be 
easily passed through such opening into the box, and shall be 
covered with a slide which shall be kept shut except when 
opened to receive a ballot. Each box shall be large enough to 
properly receive and hold all ballots which may lawfully be 
deposited therein at any election. 

Sect. 2. State Ballot Boxes shall be used for receiving all 
official ballots cast at elections. The election officers at each 
polling-place shall at the opening of the polls and before any 
ballots are received publicly open the ballot box, and ascertain 
by personal examination, and publicly show that the same is 
empty, and shall immediately thereafter lock the box and de¬ 
liver the key thereof to the town, plantation, ward, district or 
precinct clerk, to be retained by him until the polls are closed. 
The ballot box shall not, after it has been shown to be empty and 
has been locked, be removed from public view nor opened nor 


2 



4 


any ballot removed therefrom until the polls are closed. If it 
becomes impossible to use the State Ballot Box the voting shall 
proceed in such manner as the presiding officer shall direct, and 
in such case the clerk shall record the reason why such ballot 
box is not used, and shall enclose an attested copy of such record 
in the package with the ballots cast. Any presiding officer or 
town, plantation, ward, district or precinct clerk who does not 
comply with the requirements of this section, or evades or at¬ 
tempts to evade the same and any person who violates any pro¬ 
vision of this section, or hinders or attempts to hinder any elec¬ 
tion officer or any town, plantation, ward, district or precinct 
clerk in the performance of his duties under this section, shall 
be punished for each offense by a fine of not less than fifty 
dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, and by imprison¬ 
ment for not less than three nor more than nine months. 

. Sect. 3. The presiding officer at each polling-place shall 
have charge of the State Ballot Box, and shall at the close of 
each election return the same to the city, town or plantation 
clerk. The clerk of each city, town or plantation shall have the 
custody of the State Ballot Boxes provided for the town, and 
shall at the expense of the town provide for their safe keeping 
and for keeping them in good order and repair, subject to the 
supervision and control of the Secretary of State. If a State 
Ballot Box becomes defective or is lost or destroyed, the town 
clerk shall seasonably make written application to the Secre¬ 
tary of State for another ballot box, and the same shall be 
supplied at the expense of the town. 

Any presiding officer or any city, town or plantation clerk 
who shall neglect to perform any duty imposed by this section 
shall be punished as provided in section 32 of chapter six of the 
Revised Statutes. 

Sect. 4. Section twenty-five of chapter six of the Revised 
Statutes is hereby amended so as to read as follows: 

‘Sect. 25. No person shall take or remove any ballot from 
the polling-place before the close of the polls. If any voter 
spoils a ballot he may successively obtain others, one at a time, 
not exceeding three in all, upon returning each spoiled one. 
The ballots thus returned shall be immediately cancelled, and 
together with those not distributed to the voters, and with the 


5 


check lists used, which shall be certified by the ballot clerks, to 
be such, shall be secured, sealed, and sent to the several city, 
town and plantation clerks. The ballots shall be sorted and 
counted in open town or ward meeting in such manner as to 
afford the electors present ample opportunity to observe the 
sorting and counting, and the result shall be declared and 
recorded in open town or ward meeting. When the ballots have 
been so sorted and counted and the result so declared and 
recorded all the ballots shall in open meeting be sealed in a 
package, which said package with the check lists sealed in the 
same manner as the ballots, shall forthwith be returned to the 
city, town or plantation clerk. In case two or more kinds of 
official ballots are used . at any election, each kind shall be 
sealed in a separate package. All ballots and check lists shall 
be so sealed that the packages and check lists cannot be opened 
or examined without first breaking the seal ; and the sealed 
packages of ballots cast at any state election or at any election 
of electors of president and vice-president of the United States 
shall have an endorsement of substantially the following tenor 
endorsed thereon or securely affixed thereto: ‘This package 
contains the ballots cast at an election for held 

in the of (or in ward of the city 

of ) on the day of 191 ; said 

ballots were sorted, counted, the result declared and recorded, 
and this package sealed in open meeting in accordance with 
section twenty-five of chapter six of the Revised Statutes/ 
Such endorsement shall be signed by the town, plantation or 
ward clerk and by a majority of the selectmen of towns and 
the assessors of plantations, or by the wardens in cities or vot¬ 
ing precincts. The ballots and check lists returned to the city 
clerk after any city election and all other ballots returned to 
him, which he is not required to forward to the secretary of 
state according to the provisions of section six of this act, shall 
be preserved by him as a public record for six months. Any 
election officer, selectman, warden, election clerk, ballot clerk, 
town clerk or other officer however designated, who shall neglect 
to perform any duty imposed by this section, and any person 
who shall abstract from or in any manner tamper with 
said packages, or who shall in any manner abstract from or 


6 


tamper with the unused ballots shall be punished as provided 
in section two of this act. 

Sect. 5. Section fifty-four of chapter six of the Revised 
Statutes is hereby amended by substituting the word ‘three' 
for the word “thirty" in the fifth line of said section, and by 
substituting the words ‘twenty-four hours’ for the words 
“fourteen days" in the seventh line of said section; so that said 
section as amended shall read as follows: 

‘Sect. 54. The clerk of each town shall cause to be de¬ 
livered at the office of the secretary of state, the returns of 
votes given in his town, for governor, senators, representa¬ 
tives to the legislature, representatives to congress, electors 
of president and vice-president of the United States, and for 
county officers, within three days next succeeding any meeting 
for their election, or shall deposit them, post-paid, in some post 
office, directed to the secretary of state, within twenty-four 
hours after such meeting, to be transmitted by mail; and shall 
also forward to such office, as soon as practicable, a statement 
attested by him of the number of votes for said several officers, 
given at such election in his town, which shall be opened and 
filed by the secretary, and kept for public examination.’ 

Sect. 6. Within twenty-four hours after the ciose of 
any election for governor, senators, representatives to 
the legislature, representatives to congress, electors of 
president and vice-president of the United States, and 
for county officers, the clerk of each town shall securely 
pack in a box or boxes all ballots given out by him for use at 
such election and returned to him under the provisions of sec¬ 
tion twenty-five of chapter six of the Revised Statutes as 
amended by section four of this act, without breaking the seals 
of the packages of ballots so returned to him, together with an 
attested copy of his record of the number of ballots sent by 
him to each polling-place, and shall seal each box in such man¬ 
ner that the same cannot be opened without breaking the seal, 
and' within said twenty-four hours shall deliver said box or 
boxes so sealed to some express company directed to and 
to be transmitted to the secretary of state, Augusta, Maine, ex¬ 
press charges prepaid, and shall take a receipt therefor; or 
within three days after the close of such election the clerk of 


7 


each town shall deliver said ballots or boxes so sealed to the 
secretary of state at his office in Augusta. The secretary of 
state shall preserve for a period of six months all such ballots 
so received by him as a public record. Any town clerk who 
neglects to perform the duties imposed upon him by this sec¬ 
tion and any person who breaks any seal affixed to any package 
of ballots or to any box containing packages of ballots before 
the same are delivered at the office of the secretary of state, 
shall be punished as provided in section two of this act. 

Sect. 7. At the expiration of fourteen days after any elec¬ 
tion specified in the preceding section, the secretary of state 
shall forthwith send a messenger to every town from which 
returns of votes have not been received as provided in section 
fifty-four of chapter six of the Revised Statutes, as amended 
by section five of this act, or from which the sealed packages 
of ballots have not been received as provided in the preceding 
section; and the expense of each messenger shall be audited and 
paid, and added to' the next state tax assessed on the town, as 
provided in section one hundred twenty-five of chapter six of 
the Revised Statutes. 

Sect. 8. The secretary of state shall permit any candidate 
or other interested person to inspect the ballots so returned 
to him, in his presence or in the presence of any clerk of his 
office designated by him, or in the presence of the deputy sec¬ 
retary of state, under such reasonable regulations or restrictions 
consistent with the right of inspection as will secure every bal¬ 
lot from loss, injury or change in any respect. After each 
inspection the packages shall be again sealed and the fact and 
date of inspection noted on the package. Whenever required 
so to do the secretary of state or the deputy secretary of state 
shall produce any package of ballots in his custody before the 
governor and council, the legislature or either branch thereof, 
or any committee thereof, or before any court or magistrate 
having jurisdiction of any proceeding relating to said election. 

Sect. 9. The secretary of state shall at the expense of the 
state provide and seasonably send to the several city, town and 
plantation clerks suitable seals for use as required by the 
provisions of this act, and printed forms of endorsements, 
and suitable blanks for all certificates, copies of records and re- 


8 


turns required to be made to his office, by this act; and shall 
also prepare and send in the same package with said seals a let¬ 
ter of instructions especially calling the attention of each clerk 
to the provisions of sections two, three, four and six of this act. 

Sect. io. Section fifty-nine of chapter six of the Revised 
Statutes is hereby amended by inserting after the word “council” 
in the thirteenth line thereof the following paragraph: 

‘Upon written application filed with the secretary of state 
within twenty days after the returns are opened and tabulated, 
alleging that the return or record of the vote cast in any town 
does not correctly state the vote as actually cast in such town, 
and specifying the offices as to which such errors are believed 
to have occurred, the governor and council in open meeting 
shall examine the ballots cast in said town and returned to the 
secretary of state, and if such return or record is found to be 
erroneous the return shall be corrected in accordance with the 
number of ballots found to have been actually cast in said town; 
but no such examination of the ballots shall be made without 
reasonable notice to all candidates for the offices specified in 
the application as to which such errors are alleged to have oc¬ 
curred, stating when and where such examination will be made 
and affording such candidates a reasonable opportunity to be 
present, in person or by counsel at such examination and be 
heard in relation thereto/ so that said section as amended shall 
read as follows: 

‘Sect. 59. The governor and council, by the first day of 
December in each year in which an election is held, shall open 
and compare the votes so returned, and have the same tabulated, 
and may receive testimony on oath to prove that the return 
from any town does not agree with the record of the vote of 
such town in the number of votes, or the names of the persons 
voted for, and to prove which of them is correct; and the re¬ 
turn, when found erroneous, may be corrected by the record. No 
such correction can be made without application within twenty 
days after the returns are opened and tabulated, stating the 
error alleged, nor without reasonable notice thereof given to 
the person affected by such correction, and during said twenty 
days any person voted for, may personally, and by or with 
counsel, examine said returns in presence of the governor and 


9 


council, or either of them, or any member of the council. Upon 
written application filed with the secretary of state within twenty 
days after the returns are opened and tabulated, alleging that 
the return or record of the vote cast in any town does not 
correctly state the vote as actually cast in such town, and 
specifying the offices as to which such errors are believed to have 
occurred, the governor and council in open meeting shall 
examine the ballots cast in said town and returned to the secre¬ 
tary of state, and if such return or record is found to be erro¬ 
neous the return shall be corrected in accordance with the num¬ 
ber of ballots found to hav’e been actually cast in said town; 
but no such examination of the ballots shall be made without 
reasonable notice to all candidates for the offices specified in the 
application as to which such errors are alleged to have occurred, 
stating when and where such examination will be made and 
affording such candidates a reasonable opportunity to be present 
in person or by counsel at such examination and be heard in 
relation thereto. The persons having the highest number of 
votes, not exceeding the number to be chosen, shall be declared 
elected; and they shall be notified thereof by the secretary of 
state, and enter upon the discharge of official duties on the first 
day of January thereafter. If a number of persons, exceeding 
the number to be chosen, receive an equal number of votes, no 
one is elected. To ascertain what persons have received the 
highest number of votes, the governor and council shall count 
and declare for any person all votes appearing by said returns 
to have been intentionally cast for him, although his name upon 
the return is misspelled or written with only the initial or 
initials of his Christian name or names; and they may hear 
testimony ifpon oath, in relation to such returns, in order to 
get at the intention of the electors, and shall decide accord¬ 
ingly. This section shall be applied in determining the election 
of all county officers, and, so far as it relates to the examination 
and correction of returns, it shall be applied in determining 
the election of representatives to congress, members of the legis¬ 
lature, and presidential electors. When a return is defective by 
reason of any informality, an attested copy of the record may be 
substituted therefor.’ 


IO 


Sect. 11. This act shall be applied in determining the results 
of voting upon any resolve of the legislature submitting a 
constitutional amendment to the people, and the results of vot¬ 
ing upon any measures submitted to the determination of the 
people under the amendment to the constitution of the state 
adopted September 14, 1908, except questions relating to mu¬ 
nicipal affairs submitted under section twenty-one of part three 
of article four, of the constitution; provided, however, that the 
governor and council may without the application mentioned in 
the preceding section, examine in open meeting the ballots cast 
on any such resolve or question ; and when such examination is 
made with or without application, in lieu of the notice pre¬ 
scribed by the preceding section, a notice thereof and of the 
time and place fixed therefor shall be given by publishing such 
notice at least twice in some newspaper, if any, published in the 
town where the ballots to be examined were cast, and if there is 
no such newspaper then in a newspaper published in the town 
in the same county nearest the town where the -ballots to be 
examined were cast; the first publication of such notice shall 
be at least seven days before the time fixed for such examina¬ 
tion. 

Sect. 12. Section forty-two of chapter six of the Revised 
Statutes is hereby amended so as to read as follows: 

‘Sect. 42. Clerks of towns shall preserve the check-lists 
used at any election at which the ballots cast are to be returned 
to the secretary of state under the provisions of this act, for 
one year without alteration, and shall furnish to any person a 
certified copy thereof within the twenty days after demand and 
payment or tender of the legal charges therefor, and shall with¬ 
out charge furnish the governor and council with a certified 
copy thereof within twenty days after demand, under the pen¬ 
alty provided in section seventy-eight.’ 

Sect. 13. Nothing contained in this act shall affect the juris¬ 
diction of the Supreme Judicial Court or any justice thereof to 
entertain proceedings under section seventy to seventy-four both 
inclusive of chapter six of the Revised Statutes. 


II 


Sect. 14. Any neglect on the part of an officer of a town 
to comply with the requirements of, or to perform the duties 
imposed by sections two, three and six of this act, and section 
twenty-five of chapter six of the Revised Statutes as amended 
by section four of this act, shall be deemed wilful and unreason¬ 
able, within the meaning of section ninety-one of chapter six 
of the Revised Statutes, unless the contrary is shown. 























































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